Monthly Archives: September 2014

T, 9/30: Workshopping letter drafts

Posted on by

Today you were asked to bring 5 copies of your job ad/cover letter and 5 copies of your claim letter. We’re going to do something akin to peer-review as speed dating.

  1. We’re going to divide the class into two groups. Then, each group will divide in half, forming two even, concentric circles. Like this:

2. Those in the outside circle will exchange drafts with those in the inside. Each pair has 5-10 minutes to review each other’s claim letters and share feedback. As you review your partner’s letter, be sure to write down comments, questions, ideas, etc. in the margins. As you do, keep in mind the criteria we developed in class for this genre. After the 5-10 minutes are up, you’ll give each other your letters back.

3. The outside circle with then rotate one seat over, clockwise and repeat step 2.

4. Once everyone has had a chance to review your claim letter (about 30-40 minutes), we’ll switch circles so that the outside circle in Group 1 will switch with the outside circle in Group 2. This way, we’ll be able to diversify feedback.

5. Repeats steps 2-3 with your cover letters.

Th, 9/25: Cover letters, cont’d

Posted on by

Today we’ll slow down a little bit and look at two more sample job ads and letters of response (although digital copies are available below, I printed out copies so you can write on them).

But first I’ll also share the Tech Briefing schedule with you and walk you through the Instructions Project.

On Tuesday, I’d like you to bring 5 draft copies of your cover letter (w/ job ad) and 5 draft copies of your claim letter. We’ll workshop these in class.

Th, 9/11: Audience analysis (memos)

Posted on by

Today we are primarily focused on workshopping your memos, which we’ll do in stages.

First, you’ll first spend 5 minutes individually reading Group 1’s memo and data. Next, you’ll spend 5 more minutes sharing your thoughts in small groups and commenting on the memo. We’ll then reconvene as a large group for 5 more minutes to debrief. We’ll repeat this process with Group 2 and so on. Because I uploaded each memo to Google Docs, you should be able to make comments and edits right in the doc, which everyone can see. I’ll show you how to use these features before we start. Here are the memos and data:

Group 1 –social media in the workplace: [memo] [data]
Group 2 –cloud-based options: [memo] [data]
Group 3 –video conferencing: [memo] [data]
Group 4 –online collaboration sites/software: [memo] [data]
Group 5 –web design: [memo] [data]

As you read these, consider the following process:

  1. First, individually read the data a few times. Then, ask yourself: what does the data say? What does it not say? That is, what can it not tell me?
  2. Then, read through the memo. What does the group focus on? Was is the same points you saw? Different? In other words, how did the group interpret this data? Do you agree with it?  Are there are there alternative explanations for the data? Does the data ever make interpretation difficult?  Discuss these questions in your small groups.
  3. Finally, think about how you might actually use this data as someone who will be graded on making a case for a certain kind of tech briefing. Would this memo be helpful in making that case? Let this question guide many of your comments.